Minor League roundup, April 29: Bryce Eldridge dominates

It’s not exactly news to anyone, but first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) is one of the top prospects in the sport. But hey … just because it’s not news, doesn’t mean we don’t like to be reminded about it, right?

And remind us he did.

The tall lefty had an eye-popping showing on Wednesday — the type of game that will have KNBR callers losing their minds if the Giants offense doesn’t do much during today’s doubleheader.

In his 1st plate appearance of the day, he worked a walk.

In his 2nd plate appearance of the day, he worked the count full and then, against a left-handed pitcher, blasted an absolutely sensational 2-run home run that measured out at 434 feet, and left the bat at 110.1 mph.

In his 3rd plate appearance of the day, he ripped a 103.6-mph single, again off of a lefty.

In his 4th plate appearance of the day, he hit yet another single off of a left-hander.

In his 5th plate appearance of the day, he was finally retired, but on a hard-hit ground out.

And in his 6th plate appearance of the day, he capped his superstar showing with a 3-run home run, hit 103 mph and 401 feet. Not only that, but it came in an 0-2 count and, you guessed it, against a lefty.

Yes, it was a 4-5 day with 2 dingers and a walk, and all 4 of his hits coming off of same-handed pitching. Even when you account for the Salt Lake environment — the Bees play in a park that is basically the Great American Ballpark of the Coors Field League — it was a mesmerizing showing, and one that raised his OPS all the way up to .955 and his wRC+ to 155.

That’s about as good of a day as you can have, and about as encouraging of a day as you can have, though fans clamoring for his call-up will probably be disappointed. There are still things to work on — mainly making contact, as his in-zone contact rate remains in the 32nd percentile, while his whiff rate is in the 18th percentile — but yeesh. Sometimes a player reminds you of what they’re capable of, and when that player is the best power prospect the Giants have had in many decades, it’s pretty exciting!

Eldridge didn’t have the only good day in the batter’s box, as you could probably surmise by the 17 runs, which came via 15 hits, 10 walks, 3 hit batters, and 2 Salt Lake errors. Center fielder Grant McCray had a fantastic game and would have been the headliner had Eldridge not stolen the show.

McCray had a brutal start to the year but has been turning things around lately, and Wednesday was his best game yet, as he hit 2-5 with a grand slam, a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout.

The grand slam was beautiful, but it’s the stolen base that the Giants are probably happiest to see. If McCray wants to get back to the Majors soon, it will likely be in a Jared Oliva-esque role, and we saw during the spring the difference in how those two attack the bases, despite having similar speed. McCray had 52 thefts in 2023, but swiped just 14 bags in the Minors in 2024, and 5 more in the Majors. He bounced back a little with 27 stolen bases last year (but none in 22 Major League games). So far this year, he has 3, but has been caught stealing twice.

As for the bat, though, it’s thankfully coming around, as he’s up to a .718 OPS and a 101 wRC+. McCray started the season with a great game, hitting 3-3 with a walk, but then hit a huge slump: over the next 15 games, he hit just 5-46 with 0 home runs, 2 doubles, 12 walks, and 17 strikeouts. But since then, he’s hit 10-32 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 4 walks, and 7 strikeouts. A big step in the right direction.

The other nice hitting days belonged to right fielder Victor Bericoto (No. 35 CPL) and third baseman Buddy Kennedy. Bericoto hit 2-5 with a walk, and smashed a 2-run home run.

The 24-year old is holding his own in his 1st real look at AAA (he had a brief stint there last year), as he has a .803 OPS and a 113 wRC+. The big power in his right-handed bat hasn’t been too on display — this was his 1st home run since April 8, and just his 2nd extra-base hit in that time — but the 18.3% strikeout rate is extremely encouraging. Bericoto has some really nice exit velocities (he’s 83rd percentile in 90th percentile EV), so if he can keep limiting strikeouts, that will be a very good thing.

As for Kennedy, he kept his excellent season going by hitting 3-4 with a double, a walk, and a hit by pitch, which raised his OPS to .933 and his wRC+ to 154. He’s done absolutely everything that the Giants have asked of him when they signed him to a Minor League contract to be AAA depth.

On the pitching front, it was a pretty nice start for RHP Carson Seymour, who you have to imagine the organization was considering calling up for Thursday’s MLB doubleheader before landing on RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 12 CPL). Seymour went 5 strong innings, most notably not issuing any walks while striking out 5 batters. He gave up 6 hits (honestly not bad given the environment) and 2 runs, which came on a 2-run home run by former Giant Donovan Walton. AAA baseball, baby!

Mostly it was just nice seeing Seymour strike some batters out, as that has been mysteriously absent from his game this season. The 27-year old, who made his MLB debut last year, has struck out just 7.7 batters per 9 innings, though he’s only walked 2.0 (he also has a very high 58.5% groundball rate at the moment). The overall package has been so-so, as he has a 4.03 ERA and a 4.76 FIP on the season. But games like this, especially against a Salt Lake roster with so many former Major Leaguers on it, certainly help him state his case.

A pair of Sacramento’s more high-profile relief prospects really struggled, as LHP Juan Sánchez (No. 41 CPL) gave up 2 hits (including a home run), 2 walks, and 3 earned runs while recording just 2 outs, and RHP Trent Harris (No. 29 CPL) allowed 3 hits, 1 walk, and 2 earned runs while also recording just 2 outs. Sánchez has a 4.76 ERA and an 8.36 FIP through 5.2 innings, while Harris has a 9.45 ERA and a 7.52 FIP in 6.2 innings.

RHP Marques Johnson had a great game though, retiring all 5 batters he faced and striking out 2 of them. The 2022 11th-round pick, who came to the Giants in the Mauricio Llovera trade, has a 4.50 ERA and a 5.37 FIP in his debut AAA season.

High-A Eugene (17-5)

Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane (Rockies) 3-1
Box score

The Emeralds continued their great season, and they did so with a stellar pitching performance. A quartet of arms took the mound for Eugene, and all 4 pitched very well … but none better than the starter, LHP Charlie McDaniel. The 24-year old southpaw isn’t the most heralded pitcher in the system, as he was an undrafted free agent who is in his 2nd season. But there aren’t many pitchers in the organization who have been better to start the year.

Wednesday was McDaniel’s 4th start of the season, and he went 5.1 strong, strong innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run. Most impressive, though, was his strike-throwing ability: McDaniel threw a gorgeous 53 of 70 pitches for strikes, didn’t walk a single hitter, and struck out 8 batters on the day. Glorious!

McDaniel’s numbers are nothing short of excellent this year, as he has a 1.10 ERA and a 2.38 FIP. The really nice thing has been the control, though, as McDaniel has 18 strikeouts to just 3 walks in 16.1 innings. Control has always been McDaniel’s strength, though he’s taken it up a notch this year by improving both … he’s also upped his ground ball rate from 42.2% last year to 54.3% this season. While McDaniel doesn’t have overpowering stuff, he certainly fits into the Giants big bucket of funky and intriguing bulk inning southpaws.

But McDaniel wasn’t the only undrafted pitcher to shine in this game, as RHP Ben Peterson earned the save with 2 no-hit innings, walking 1 and striking out 1. Like McDaniel, Peterson — who has a 1.80 ERA and a 3.15 FIP — has been tremendous with his control so far this year, with 13 strikeouts against just 2 walks in 10 innings. A fantastic start to his 2nd season for the 24-year old North Carolina alum.

It was a mild day on offense, but there were a pair of stars: first baseman Zander Darby and left fielder Carlos Gutierrez (No. 18 CPL). Darby continued his awesome season, hitting 1-3 with a beautiful home run and a strikeout.

A 23-year old taken in the 12th round of the 2024 draft, Darby really struggled when he got to Eugene late last year, posting just a .489 OPS and a 45 wRC+ in 21 games … which came after a delightful .862 OPS and 136 wRC+ with Low-A San Jose. But he’s made the adjustments this year, and looks much more like the hitter who earned the promotion than the one who struggled with it. Through 19 games this year, Darby has a .892 OPS and a 147 wRC+. He’s still striking out too much … his rate is 29.9% this year, after 42.0% in Eugene last year, which followed a very good 18.4% rate in San Jose.

Darby’s a little bit of a fill-in-wherever option for the Ems, as he’s started at least 5 games at first, second, and third base this year. He’s not the highest-regarded prospect, but if he keeps hitting he’ll keep playing!

As for Gutierrez, he went 2-3 with a walk and a stolen base. That’s more like the Gutierrez we’ve grown accustomed to! The 21-year old lefty broke out last year with a high-contact approach — he had a .351 average and just a 13.7% strikeout rate, but with limited power with San Jose last year — but this year has flipped the script a little bit. He’s had more power than we’re used to, but with a lower batting average and higher strikeout rate. So this performance was nice to see, as it was a return to the norm!

Gutierrez is still settling into the level, as he has just a .215 average … but thanks to that increase in power and a 10.8% walk rate, he’s still hitting right at league average, with a .711 OPS and a 102 wRC+. He’s also up to 5 stolen bases on the year, without yet being caught.

Not very good days for the other high profile hitters in Eugene: center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) went 0-4 and struck out twice, lowering his OPS to .897 and his wRC+ to 147; shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL) hit 0-2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, and a strikeout, and now has a .756 OPS and a 109 wRC+; designated hitter Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) hit 1-4 with a double, but struck out 3 times and saw his OPS move to .683 and his wRC+ to 105; and third baseman Walker Martin went 0-2 with a walk, a stolen base, and 2 strikeouts, lowering his OPS to .780 and his wRC+ to 122.

Low-A San Jose (15-8)

San Jose Giants lost to the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks) 9-8
Box score

A rough loss for the Baby Giants, who took an 8-3 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning, only to get walked off later that inning. Ouch!

The struggles began with RHP Cooper McGrath. Last year’s 18th-round pick cruised through the 8th inning, but couldn’t find the strike zone in the 9th, issuing a 4-pitch walk, a 5-pitch walk, and a hit batter (in a 3-ball count) to load the bases without an out.

He then gave way to RHP Alix Hernandez, who preceded to hit a batter, bringing in a run. After recording a strikeout, Hernandez allowed a run-scoring single, and then a sacrifice fly, before ceding a walk-off 3-run home run.

That’s a painful way to go out, and it raised McGrath’s ERA to 14.14 and his FIP to 11.29, and Hernandez’s to 5.06 and 4.99, respectively. After giving up no earned runs in his 1st 5 games of the year, Hernandez has allowed 3 runs in each of his past 2 games.

The bullpen collapse came after a decent start by RHP Jordan Gottesman. The team’s reigning 6th-round selection threw 50 of 73 pitches for strikes while giving up 5 hits (including a home run), 1 walk, and 2 earned runs in 4.2 innings, while striking out 4.

That’s not a great outing, but it’s a solid enough one, and it moved his ERA to 3.60, though his FIP sits at just 6.46. The long ball has been dooming the Northeastern product in his debut season, as he’s limited hitters to just 16 hits in 20 innings … but 4 of them have cleared the fence.

San Jose had a funny day on offense, netting 8 runs without recording an extra-base hit. You don’t see that very often … in fact, I looked it up out of curiosity, and the last time the Major League team did that was … 1979!

A trio of hitters had really nice games though: right fielder Cam Maldonado (No. 34 CPL), catcher Junior Barajas, and left fielder Damian Bravo.

Maldonado hit 2-4 with a sacrifice fly and a stolen base, moving his OPS to 1.107 and his wRC+ to 166, with 9 stolen bases in 11 attempts. Last year’s 7th-round pick has come back to earth following his other-worldly week of baseball destruction, but is still having one of the best seasons on the farm this year. Barajas hit 3-5, which raised last year’s 11th-round pick’s OPS to .940 and his wRC+ to 134. And Bravo, a 15th-round pick a year ago, went 1-3 with 2 walks, a stolen base, and a strikeout, boosting his OPS to .867 and his wRC+ to 112, with 2 stolen bases in as many attempts.

Home run tracker

5 — Bryce Eldridge x2 — [AAA]
4 — Zander Darby — [High-A]
3 — Victor Bericoto — [AAA]
2 — Grant McCray — [AAA]

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: 5:35 p.m. PT at Salt Lake (SP: TBD)
Richmond: 8:05 a.m. PT at Altoona (SP: Joe Whitman)
Eugene: 6:35 p.m. PT vs. Spokane (SP: Tyler Switalski)
San Jose: 6:35 p.m. PT at Visalia (SP: TBD)